[Sample] Focus Group & Individual Interview Guide –
Customer Analysis
(Chapter 2 – Program Design)
Note: This focus group and individual interview guide provides suggested topic areas and questions,
but you are encouraged to modify and adapt as appropriate for your market. Also, you can probe
further during individual interviews.
TOPICS TO EXPLORE
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Activities, responsibilities, mobility, literacy
Cash flow
A. Income sources
B. Major expenditures
C. Savings and spending
D. Control over money
Savings places (informal, formal)
Challenges to saving
Financial education
A. Assessment of financial knowledge and gaps
i. Goal-setting, planning
ii. Concept of saving
iii. Needs vs. Wants
iv. Financial conversations in the household
v. Knowledge of banks and benefits
vi. Understanding of mechanics of formal savings products
B. Potential content and delivery mechanisms for financial education
Financial institutions
A. Impression of your financial institution and other financial institutions in the community
B. Previous experience with banking services, attitudes towards banking services
Marketing and communication
Tips
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Conduct separate focus groups for girls and boys
Ensure that participants are in age brackets of no more than 3-4 years
Encourage participation from everyone
Get 2-3 responses for every question
Have one person facilitating the focus group and another person taking verbatim notes (plus an interpreter, if
needed)
For individual interviews: try to probe further on topics that cannot be discussed in detail in a focus group
setting because of time limitations.
WELCOME & INTRODUCTION
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Thank you for coming – we are grateful for your time. We are really excited to be here with you and talk to you
about your life.
We would like to record these discussions to help us remember them and so that we do not miss any of the ideas
you give us. The details of these discussions will not be shared with anyone else; your names will be kept
confidential and no one else will know who said what during our conversation. So please feel free to express your
opinions openly. If you are not comfortable with this arrangement you do not have to participate. Would you still like
to participate in this discussion?
Great! I first want to say that we invited all of you here, and so we would like to hear from everyone. Everyone’s
ideas, experiences and opinions are important. So please, everyone speak up!
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CORE QUESTIONS
PROBES
Warm-up Questions [10 minutes]
PROCESS
1. Who here likes [insert popular sport or
famous celebrity/singer]?
2. What is your favorite subject?
Introductions
3. Let’s start by introducing ourselves.
Please tell us your name, your age, who
lives with you in your home and what
grade you are in? I will start and then we
can go around the group.
Co-facilitator to
prepare nametags for
participants and
facilitators
Activities, Responsibilities, Mobility
4. What are you responsible for during the
day?
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During school?
Outside school?
Household chores?
5. What are your hobbies?
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What do you do in your free time?
Do you like to read? (gauge literacy)
Who do you hang out with?
How many close friends do you have?
6. When you leave your house, where do
you go?
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What do you do there (if not obvious)?
How often do you usually do these
things?
Do you go alone or with someone else?
Who?
Do you have to ask permission? From
whom?
Do you ever use public transportation?
How much does it cost?
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Cash Flow (sources of income, saving, spending)
7. Do you use money?
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8. How do you get money?
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9. Where do you keep your money?
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What kinds of things do you need money
for?
What in your life requires money?
One-time sources: festivals, holidays,
birthdays
o How much?
Regular sources: allowance from parents
or relatives, income-generating activities
o How much?
Any other time?
Distribute notecards
and pencils/pens to
participants and ask
them to write down
the different sources
of money and the
amount.
Note: good technique
so that participants
don’t just repeat what
other participants say
before them.
Somewhere at home? Where?
With a friend? With a parent?
In a bank?
Why?
What do you like or dislike about saving in
each of those ways? (Probe for access,
confidentiality, cost and security)
Who decides?
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10. Where would be the safest place to keep
your money?
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Why? (probe for financial education
knowledge)
11. What do you use that money for?
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Is money for different purposes kept
separately?
How long is the money kept in those
places before it is spent?
Probe for savings goals.
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12. Are you saving up to buy something?
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13. Do you know how much money you
have?
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14. Does anyone else know about your
savings place and how much you have?
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15. What challenges do you face in saving
money?
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How often do you check the amount you
have stored?
What do you do to know how much
money you have spent?
What amount would make you feel good
to have there?
Do you have a plan for accumulating
money? Do you track actual saving
against the plan? How?
Do you have a plan for spending? Do you
track actual spending against the plan?
How?
If so, whom?
How do you decide who to tell? (probe for
confidentiality and privacy)
Family members asking for money from
them?
People taking the money from them
without asking?
Spending it early on something else
(candy, clothes, etc.)
What can be done to try to overcome
these challenges?
Financial Education
16. With whom do you talk about your
savings?
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17. What have you learned about managing
money before? From where or whom?
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What do your parents tell you about
saving or spending? Do parents
encourage you to save? If so, how?
What do you tell your parents? (how
much money you have, where it is, and
what you want to use it for)
What about siblings?
How do you get money from parents
when you want or need it?
Parents? Siblings? Other relatives?
School? NGO?
How did you hear about it (if program)?
Who specifically taught you?
What topics did you learn about?
Where did it occur?
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18. If so, how did you learn?
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19. What other things would you like to know
about managing money?
20. How would you like to learn about these
topics? Where?
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Listening to someone speak?
Practicing?
Where did it occur?
How often?
Who else was learning with you?
What were your costs associated with
this?
Was it fun? What did you like about the
experience?
What didn’t you like about this
experience?
Afterwards, did you change how you think
about money? Why or why not?
Did you change how you manage your
money? Why or why not?
Probe for games, online, social media,
groups, in-school/classroom, printed
materials, with parents
Banking and savings accounts?
Goal setting and planning?
Reducing spending?
How to start a business?
Classes? If so, what kind of teacher?
Games? What kinds?
Videos?
In groups or alone?
With parents?
Have you learned about other things,
such as health issues, in a particularly fun
and interesting way? What?
Financial Institutions
21. What comes to mind when I say the word
“bank”?
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22. What other MFIs or banks do you know
of?
23. Do you know how a bank (savings)
account works?
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24. What savings accounts do you know
about that are just for young people like
you?
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What do you know about them?
How do you feel about them?
Why do people in the community go to
them?
Who can use those services?
What kind of products do they offer to
boys and girls?
Do you know of any banks that have
accounts for young people?
Would you prefer to save at home vs. in a
bank? Why? (Probe for interest, security,
convenience, etc.)
How do you know about them?
What is your impression of them?
What is required to open a bank account?
When can you put money in, get money
out? How do you do this?
Are there any fees?
What are the benefits? Why would
someone keep money in a bank instead
of somewhere else?
Are there any drawbacks to having a bank
account?
Who offers these accounts?
What is special about those accounts?
What don’t you like about those
accounts?
What are the conditions?
If not, who are savings accounts for?
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25. If we could design a bank savings
account for you, what would it look like?
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Minimum balance
Withdrawal restrictions
Interest rate
Fees (if applicable)
If a bank staff was able to collect the
money from you
Marketing & Communications
26. What is the best way to reach girls (or
boys) your age?
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Probe for social activities, media outlets,
popular trends.
27. What is popular among girls (or boys)
your age now?
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Probe for trends, colors, celebrities,
movies, music – make a note of what’s
popular for different ages.
28. If there’s something going on in the
community, how do you find out about it?
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29. Are there ever fun events here in your
area?
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Where do you get your information?
Probe for TV, radio,
newspapers/magazines, signs, friends,
religious institution, etc.
What made it fun? Did you attend? Why
or why not?
Probe for people going through the
markets, street theatre, music, loud
speakers, events, tents, mobile vans,
anything fun.
What did you think of that?
If so, what kind of things?
Probe for community events, local
programs, etc.
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30. Do you ever hear about anything at
school?
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31. What advertisements do you remember?
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32. Do you use the internet?
33. Do you have access to a mobile phone?
34. What do you use your mobile phone for?
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What was being advertised? (soap, hair
products, washing powder)?
Why do you remember these
advertisements? (Probe for what made it
attractive)
Where?
What do you use it for?
Are you on Facebook?
Twitter, etc. (other social media sites)?
Is it yours?
If not, whose is it?
Calls? Internet? Music downloads? Apps?
Chatting? Etc.?
Closing
Thank you. Your answers and discussion have been very helpful and informative. We are very grateful for the
information you have provided. Do you have any questions or suggestions for us?
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